Can Kids Trek in Maharashtra

Is it safe to take kids for a trek in Sahyadri a.k.a Western Ghats of Maharashtra?

We are in an era where kids are accomplishing great things at a very young age. When it comes to trekking and adventure, Kids have been scaling peaks of difficult grade treks too. Age is no longer a barrier.

If you are planning to take your kids to trek along with you, there are a few extremely important points to consider before you hop in.

• To begin with, We first need to understand what is trekking and what is the difference between a picnic, a trip, and Trek. ( What is the difference between Hiking, Trek, and Picnic )

• The first eligibility criteria is to check if the parent is an experienced trekker himself/herself and has done at least one trek in the past 6 months.

• If the parent isn't fit enough, it will be a horrifying experience in case the kid needs support from the parent who is himself/herself unfit.

• Check if the Kid is fit enough to trek and be out in Nature. Some parents raise their kids in the most comfortable and delicate way. This makes the kid incapable of normally existing in nature for a few hours without the comfort of city life. If this applies to your kid, you need to wait a few years until the kid turns 18.

• Check if the kid gels up with people easily, some kids get cranky around people and this is a red flag.

• You as a parent need to think about all the possible things that might go wrong during the trek and be ready for all situations.
  For Eg:
  1. If your kid gets tired and cannot walk further, what would you do in that situation?
  2. What if your kid gets cranky and is not ready to complete the trek? Are you physically fit enough to handle the situation?

• You as parent's also need to understand that the possibility of finding any houses once we leave the base village are very rare, you'll be walking through a trail probably covered with dense forest, crossing river streams, climbing rock patches and few narrow trails too. Although we'll always be there to help you out but you need to be prepared to help your kids if they get tired, don't wish to walk further etc.

• You might not see human/shops/houses on the Non - Crowded treks that we have on our list. You need to make sure that you always have something to munch for your kids on the trek incase they get tired or hungry, You won't find Toilets on the entire trek as its nearly impossible to build toilets in such dense mountain areas. One's who wish to pee might have to pee behind bushes (Toilets will be only available till the base village, post that you won't find toilets).

• Parents need to be prepared to take care of their kids incase they get few scratches, when you are out in the nature you can expect few scratches and bruises incase one silps or due to dense forest around.

• As mentioned earlier, age is not a barrier anymore, We have trekked with teenagers/people in their 20's (Whom everyone might consider being fit enough to trek) But, at times even they cannot complete 20% of the Trek and get completely exhausted. Whereas once we had a 5-year-old kid trek to Kalsubai - the highest peak of Maharashtra. Surprisingly the kid completed the entire trek successfully (mostly without any help from the parent).

• Kids are brave and mostly aren't scared of trying new things, they tend to get scared when they see their parents worrying. They look upon their parents and follow them, if the parents be brave and complete the trek, the kids will follow them without any hesitation.

• If your kid is inclined towards nature or if you wish to introduce your kids to trekking and expose them to nature and the wild then you can consider all the easy grade treks that we have on our website, Easy grade treks can be easily done by anyone who is fit enough to trek. Your kids just need a little push and support from your end in order for them to complete the entire trek.